When a cluster of nodes is deployed, an external packet distributor is typically used to distribute incoming packets to the nodes in the cluster. The external packet distributor distributes the incoming packets to a flow receiver, which is a node that receives a packet forwarded by the external packet distributor. A flow processor for a packet flow is a node that is designated to process all packets of a traffic flow, for example, a TCP connection or a UDP session. When a flow receiver receives a packet, the flow receiver determines a flow processor for the packet by choosing a node within the cluster of nodes. A flow receiver may receive a large quantity of data packets and forwarding them to the right flow processor can become a challenge.